Business Commons^™

Leadership Strategies To Retain Key Employees, Keith Reginald Stafford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of key employees protects a firm's investment in its human resources. Employee retention is an issue in the insurance sector, particularly among sales employees. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore leadership strategies used by insurance sales managers to retain key employees. Herzberg's dual factor theory and Adams's equity theory were used to explore insurance sales managers' insights into leadership strategies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 insurance sales managers in southern California to elicit the strategies they used to maintain their key salespeople. Data were analyzed using the modified Van Kaam method. Seven themes emerged from …

Strategies Construction Managerial Leaders Use To Counteract Material Cost Overruns, Daniel John Van Der Kuyp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The project cost overruns instigated through the loss of construction materials lowers the profitability of each stakeholder significantly. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies managerial leaders of a large construction firm used to counteract material cost overruns successfully. The diffusion of innovation theory was the conceptual framework for this study. The target population consisted of 6 managerial leaders with experience in large construction projects adhering to waste management standards and industry certifications. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and review of company documentation. The data analysis approach involved the content analysis research method to interpret …

Mortgage Regulations And Compliance Strategies, Cheryl Travis-Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2010, regulators established new rules for single-family mortgage services that tightened the loan amount consumers could qualify for, restricted fees lenders could charge, and placed numerous financial penalties for improper servicing of loans. Regulatory fee restrictions made it difficult for leaders to offset the compliance costs through the price of services provided. Leaders responsible for mortgage regulatory compliance experienced increased operating costs for single-family mortgage services due to the new regulations, and some leaders found it challenging to comply and remain competitive. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies leaders in the single-family mortgage services …

Moderating Effect Of Job Level On Work-To-Family Conflict And Job Attitudes, Shanu Loganathan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past research has shown the likelihood of work-to-family conflict in employees' struggle to manage work, family, and personal life, however, work-to-family conflict remained unexamined in employees' job attitudes at different job levels. Previous studies highlighted that employees at higher job level experience greater work-to-family conflict than employees at lower job level. The purpose of the study was to examine the moderating effects of job level (supervisory or managerial and nonsupervisory or nonmanagerial) on the relationships between work-to-family conflict and job attitudes (job satisfaction, work engagement, organizational commitment, and turnover intention). In this quantitative study, the theoretical framework included conflict theory …

Informing Quality In Emergency Care: Understanding Patient Experiences, Esmat Swallmeh, Vivienne Byers, Amr Arisha

Articles

Purpose: Assessing performance and quality in healthcare organisations is moving from focussing solely on clinical care measurement to considering the patient experience as critical. Much patient experience research is quantitative and survey based. The purpose of this paper is to report a qualitative study gathering in-depth data in an emergency department (ED).

Design/methodology/approach: The authors used empirical data from seven focus groups to understand patient experience as participants progressed through a major teaching hospital in an Ireland ED. A convenience sampling technique was used, and 42 participants were invited to share their perceptions and outline key factors affecting their journey. …

Experience Design In Leisure Studies, Parks, Recreation, And Tourism, Neil R. Lundberg

Faculty Publications

This article provides a response to the article “Leisure Studies is for Experience, Not Industry,” by Harmon (2018). In responding to Harmon’s critique, I address two important issues; both could be expanded into full-length articles but are treated only briefly in this response. First, it is critical to clearly understand and differentiate between the related concepts of experience design, experience industries, and experience economy, so I will provide a preliminary differentiation. Second, and in connection with the differentiation of experience-based concepts, I briefly discuss the need for curriculum reform or refocus within the broad discipline of leisure studies, parks, recreation, …

Comparing Self-Service Technologies And Human Interaction Services In The Hotel Industry, Soona Park

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to the development of technology, one of the major trends in the hospitality industry is service migration from human interaction services (HISs) to self-service technologies (SSTs). Therefore, it is important to examine customers service perceptions based on two different service provisions: SSTs and HISs. This study investigated similarities and differences between SST and HIS customer service perceptions based on several service quality dimensions, their effects on customer satisfaction and service loyalty in the hotel industry. Initially, this study conceptualized the service quality dimensions with six major dimensions (i.e., reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, competence, efficiency, and enjoyment) and hypothesized to have …

Academically Resistant Athletes: Victims Of Aces Or Commodities Of The System, Melnee Berry

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Fans of college sports embrace the idea of athletes playing sport and, in turn, receiving tuition scholarships that provide them an opportunity to trade athletic talent for a free education. A contradictory body of research using internal colonization theory posits that the trade of education for playing sports is not a fair exchange but is fraught with exploitation that continues to perpetuate subjugation. An accepted narrative in athletic competition is that the recruiting pipeline draws athletes from impoverished inner-city areas engaging young athletes who experience difficulties keeping up scholastically becoming academically resistant as they focus on their sport at the …

Understanding How Generation X And Millennial Entrepreneurs Manage Organizational Conflict, Sidjae T. Price

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

As the United States prepares for a generational shift in leaders, there is a lack of literature adequately examining how Generation X and Millennial entrepreneurs manage organizational conflict about leadership and change management. The scope of this problem should concern individuals who are stakeholders in any organization. In preparation for the coming shift in generational leaders, the subject study explored the management of organizational conflict regarding leadership and change management for Generation X and Millennial entrepreneurs. Supported by a theoretical foundation built on theory of generations and realistic group conflict theory, this qualitative study analyzed the interviews and narratives of …

Sarbanes Oxley Act, Madison Quattro

A with Honors Projects

This honors project essay summarizes the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOA), a law that requires all publicly-traded companies to report internal accounting controls to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Certain provisions of the act apply to private companies as well. This essay examines the history of the act, what led to its implementation, and the effects of the act thus far.

Automobile Insurance Quote Comparisons And Swot Analysis: State Farm, Jennifer Warsaw

A with Honors Projects

This honors project comes in two parts. The first is a survey of insurance providers and product options using automobile quote comparisons. The second piece is an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of one the insurance company compared in the first part of the project.

It's A Dangerous World In There: Leadership Methods And Actions Of School Administrators During Emergency Situations And Times Of Crisis, James J. Drake

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Over the past twenty years, shootings and other violent incidents, acts of terrorism such as the attacks of September 11, 2001, and natural disaster events such as hurricanes or floods have occurred with increasing frequency. Situations like these pose significant challenges for school administrators when a normally-peaceful educational environment is quickly transformed by significant acts of aggression from within, or by external threats that impact the educational domain with little or no advance warning.

Contingency-based, situational leadership has proven to be effective when used in both educational and non-educational settings during normal, non-emergency periods. The purpose of this study is …

Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney

Senior Honors Theses

Poverty is a major problem that reaches millions of people around the world. Although many organizations and individuals work daily to combat this, much of the work done to reduce poverty lacks sustainability and serves only to remedy to the effects of poverty, rather than create a solution to the causes of poverty. Microfinance can be very basically defined as the provision of banking to the impoverished who would not otherwise have access to these services. This purpose of this thesis is to show that microfinance is the ideal solution to the poverty problem by using research and evidence from …

E & I Academics - A Business Plan, Rosalyn Mccoy

Senior Honors Theses

Starting a school presents many difficulties, but a business plan provides a method by which to work through many of these issues. The following business plan for Encourage & Inspire Academics, hereafter referred to as E & I Academics, explains many aspects of the proposed business from operations to competition to target market. E & I Academics is a proposed business that will offer both afterschool tutoring and homeschool tutoring services to families who wish to invest in a quality education for their children. E & I Academics will offer more personalized services than a typical public school and will …

Corporate Outsourcing To Take Advantage Of Cheap Labor In Developing Countries, Cecily Schenimann

Senior Honors Theses

Corporate outsourcing is a common practice for many large corporations, and a primary reason that corporations outsource is financial: production in other countries, especially those that are developing is significantly less expensive. There are various reasons corporations use outsourcing and this choice often results in subpar and unhealthy labor conditions for those individuals working in developing countries. Reviews of China, Bangladesh, and El Salvador reveal that operations in developing countries often result in harmful working atmospheres. A call for increased corporate responsibility and accountability for corporations who choose to take their manufacturing and production elsewhere, but specifically to developing nations, …

Datalog For Non-Profit Demographic Analysis, Jordan Mulcahey, Patricia Payton, Ignacio Regalado

Math 365 Class Projects

Datalog is a useful tool in organizing data. With it, we can achieve a better in-depth analysis on how the FIT program is performing.

What is F.I.T.? FIT, the Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow, is a non-profit organization that provides resources and training for those who want employment.

Tales From The Slot Floor: Casino Slot Managers In Their Own Words, David Schwartz

UNLV Gaming Press Books

Slot machines have been, since the 1970s, an integral element of the modern casino resort. From the early 1980s, they have garnered the bulk of gaming revenues in Nevada and in most American jurisdictions that have legalized casinos since then, they also produce the majority of gaming win. For that reason, they are an incredibly important part of any modern casino resort, and their management deserves documentation and investigation.

In 2016 and 2017, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research, in cooperation with the Oral History Research Center, conducted an oral history project focusing on slot managers. …

Influence Of Perceptual Factors Of A Responsible Gambling Program On Customer Satisfaction With A Gambling Firm, Brett Abarbanel, Lisa Cain, Kahlil S. Philander

Research & Economic Development Faculty Research

Using data collected from customers of a Canadian provincial government-owned gambling firm, this study explores the relationship between gamblers’ perception of the organization’s commitment to responsible gambling programs and satisfaction with the firm. Results of a principal components analysis suggest that many value based judgements are closely related, and a multivariate regression model suggests that perceived adequacy of responsible gambling programs and perceived firm motives are predictive of customer satisfaction scores. We conclude that corporate social responsibility, and in particular, a commitment to responsible gambling programs, are closely related to customer satisfaction with gambling firms.

Workforce Nationalisation In Papua New Guinea: Security And Logistics In Resource Organisations, Warren Doudle

Theses

Many multinational organisations fail to fully employ the capabilities of their local staff, particularly those in sensitive roles, such as security and logistics positions. It is commonplace to rely on expatriate staff for many of these roles, and this practice is particularly prevalent in the resource industry in Papua New Guinea. This research first aimed to determine whether this reliance on expatriates does exist, and, if so, why this situation occurs. It then examined how resource companies operating in Papua New Guinea manage and develop their national logistics and security workforce, and how nationalisation or workforce indigenisation occurs in this …

"No Sir, It’S Not Discrimination, You’Re Just Too Old". An Auto-Ethnography Of The Effects Of Perceived Age Discrimination Among Older Australian Male Professionals., Colin Brown

Theses

This thesis investigates the effects of perceived age discrimination in employment practices on Australian professional men. It commences by outlining the global setting of the age discrimination phenomenon, and then draws attention to the myths and stereotypes that have engendered this unsavoury, often hidden, form of discrimination by focusing on the attitudes of recruitment agencies, private and government employers and older workers themselves. The thesis examines the literature on the multiple negative effects of discrimination, and then presents the method used, the personal interviews, the analysis and findings, and finally, the conclusion.

There is limited ethnographic research into the psychological …

Business Stressors, Family-Business Identity, And Divorce In Family Business: A Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (Vsa) Model, Paul Sanchez-Ruiz, Ileana Maldonado-Bautista, Matthew Rutherford

Management Faculty Publications

A considerable amount of research focuses on how divorce in enterprising families influences family business outcomes. Yet, the impact that family businesses have on the divorce of enterprising families remains relatively under-researched. We contribute to the emerging enterprising family heterogeneity literature by building upon the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (VSA) model and explore two questions regarding the influence of family businesses on divorce: Do family business-related stressors influence divorce? And, if so, what adaptive processes help enterprising families to cope with family business-related stressors? We hypothesize that high levels of debt and high sales revenue levels (as stressors) positively and significantly affect the …

A Case By Case Exploration Of Accountancy Issues In Corporate Reporting, Christopher Feazell

Honors Theses

The following are solutions to a series of cases based on relevant and prevalent accounting issues in corporate financial reporting. Each case was completed in partial requirement of the honors ACCY 420 course at the University of Mississippi. The ACCY 420 course was an academic year long course, spanning the fall 2016 and spring 2017 semesters. Each case was focused on a specific accountancy issue in corporate reporting. Some cases are directly related to public companies whereas others are specific to the accountancy issue. Accordingly, each case is different. Some cases involve a combination of ratio analysis, the preparation of …

A Case By Case Study On Accounting Principles, Cody Letchworth

Honors Theses

This thesis contains twelve different case studies that regard some of accounting's key principles. Each case is different in its own right and contains vital applications that relate to real-world scenarios. From analysis of business activities to computation of inventory, each case presents the opportunity to learn how real-world scenarios are approached and executed. Over an eight-month period, each case was prepared through analysis and other means. Each case presents its own outcome and findings due to the fact that each case is unique. With the compilation of all twelve cases, this thesis presents a brief glimpse of how to …

A Case By Case Analysis Of Fasb And Its Public Accounting Application, Ethan E. Holmes

Honors Theses

The following compilation of cases explore the intricacies of public accounting by simulating real life situations and problems that arise when using and applying the commonly accepted public accounting concepts and regulation. Using prompts for each case that were provided by Dr. Victoria Dickinson, Ph.D., CPA, of the Patterson School of Accountancy, I applied my knowledge of accounting concepts along with supplementation from the Federal Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) Codification to interoperate, draw conclusions about, and give opinions on each case.

A Comparative Study Of American And French Fashion Conspicuous Consumption Habits On Instagram, Hannah J. Corson

Honors Theses

As social media has become an integral part of every day communications, consumers have begun to conspicuously consume through the Internet. One social media platform, Instagram, puts a central focus on media sharing and allows its users to post photos and videos to their profiles. This makes Instagram an ideal place for Internet users to put their belongings on display. However, a user's nationality and cultural upbringing could influence how one utilizes this platform to conspicuously consume. To determine if this were true, Instagram photos from American and French users were analyzed to find any potential discrepancies. Fashion items were …

The Study Of Key Accounting Principles On A Case-By-Case Basis, Jennifer Clara Lyons

Honors Theses

The following are solutions to a series of case studies highlighting the key concepts of financial reporting in accounting. The cases were completed in fulfillment of the requirements for honors ACCY 420 course at the University of Mississippi for both the fall and spring semesters of the 2016/2017 academic school year. Each case focused on a different area of financial reporting within a company, or companies within the same industry. Each case contained a problem set requiring an understanding of accounting concepts, analysis of financial stability, mathematical calculations, and preparation of journal entries and financial statements.

Understanding The Basic Principles Of Accounting: A Case-By-Case Application, Katherine Collins Murphy

Honors Theses

This paper presents a range of solutions to twelve separate case studies that explore the basic principles of accounting. Each case study introduces a key topic of financial reporting that relates to a specific company or industry. The solutions were created in response to problem sets in each case that guided the analysis of the topic at hand. These problems required a basic understanding of accounting concepts and U.S. GAAP. The cases are independent of each other and require an assortment of skills including the preparation of journal entries, T-charts, and financial statements, along with a general comprehension of accounting …

The Fundamentals Of Gaap: Case Studies Of Accounting Principles, Lindsey N. Dunn

Honors Theses

The following paper consists of solutions to case studies that provide an overview of accounting principles in accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principle set forth by the Financial Standards Accounting Board. Each case addresses a different area of financial reporting within a specific company, and demonstrates comprehension and practice of accounting concepts, financial analysis, and preparation of financial statements. These cases were completed under the direction of Dr. Victoria Dickinson in fulfillment of the requirements for the University of Mississippi ACCY 420 honors course in the 2016-2017 academic year.

A Quantitative And Analytical Study Of Accounting Principles, Logan Racine

Honors Theses

This thesis is dedicated to my dear parents, Todd and Kristen Racine, who have passionately devoted their lives to the education and betterment of our youth. Their work continues to inspire thousands of students, and I am just one of them. I would not be the student, friend, or man I have become today without them.

A Case Study In The Principles And Practice Of Accounting, Ryan Maddigan

Honors Theses

The research for this thesis project is intended to be a comprehensive study on the various concepts present in the principles and practice of accounting. This includes financial analyses and other examinations of financial information for a variety of different situations and companies using several different measures and concepts. The goal of these case studies is to determine accounting best practices based on GAAP for each company and their effect on the company's financial statements and reporting. This was determined specifically through analysis by comparison of accounting ratios on profitability, liquidity, turnover, financial leverage and dividend policy as well as …